ICT services as a factor in financing the current account deficit of the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The continuous current account deficit represents one of the most significant limitations of the economic development of the Republic of Serbia. The presence of a long-term current account deficit imposes the obligation to find the sources of its financing. During the last decade, the secondary income account played an important role in financing the current account deficit, primarily due to a stable inflow of remittances from abroad. Since 2011, the services trade surplus has been also contributing to offsetting the balance of payments deficit to an increasing extent mainly owing to the rising export of ICT services. Therefore, the goal of the paper is to identify the importance of ICT services in achieving the service trade surplus and, thereby, also in financing the current account deficit.